2. Mercantilism was more a policy than it
was a theory for England.
What is a policy? Mnemonic device
hint: Mercantilism
Have you ever heard someone say, sounds a lot like
“Honesty is the best policy?” the word
merchandise.
Does that mean that we are 100%
honest all the time, or that we should
always say exactly what we think?
More likely, we think that being honest is
the general guideline for all of our
practices.
3. So we see that England had set
mercantilism policy in place.
Nations have different kinds of
policies. Sometimes we talk about
economic policies, and sometimes
we talk about foreign policies.
What is good policy for a country
may or may not be good policy for an
individual. For instance, we may
think a person is courageous to
stand up to being hit without hitting
back. However, a nation can’t afford
to back away from an aggressor.
Knowing how things work for us
individually and as families will help
us to understand England’s
economic policy of mercantilism.
4. England and the colonists thought of England as being the
“Mother” country. Like a mother in a family, she looked out for
the welfare of the children (the colonies), but she also had great
expectations of them.
Unlike a good parent, though, England wanted everything to work
out to the advantage of the Mother Country, rather than to the
good of the colonies. Whereas a parent might want to make
sacrifices for a child, the reverse was expected of the colonies.
Another analogy might be a large corporation….
5. ANOTHER ANALOGY Think of a large
corporation that has
franchises available.
Compare to England,
and the franchise
owners to the
colonies.
The franchise
owners might make
a good living, but
they will not do as
well as the
corporation.
Likewise, colonies
did not do as well as
England.
6. Just as the franchise owners have to follow certain
rules set up by the corporation, the colonies would
have to follow certain rules set up by England.
Just as it is a good thing for the corporation for the
franchises to do well, it was also a good thing for
the colonies to do well.
The ultimate goal for the corporation is for the
corporation to do well, just as with England, it was
the ultimate goal for England to do well.
7. MERCANTILISM
Navigation Acts
1. The colonies could sell some goods (tobacco and
cotton) only to England. Remember, we said that
England wanted to get the raw materials to make other
goods that they could sell. Selling goods creates wealth,
and they thought that having the most gold and silver
was the name of the game.
2. The ships they used could only be from England or
the colonies.
3. Encourage ship building in the colonies.
8. NORTH
AMERICA
Triangular Trade ENGLAND
Check out the web site
below to understand AFRICA
triangular trade!
http://www.eduplace.com/ki
ds/socsci/books/application
s/imaps/maps/g5s_u3/inde
x.html
9. The leg of the triangle going from Africa to the West
Indies was called the Middle Passage.
Most sources say that about 30 million to 60 million
slaves were sent from Africa to the Indies, but only
about 1/3 survived the trip.
The following sited is hosted by a British college
instructor who is interested in slavery and abolition
in England and the colonies. He has several
documents that you might find interesting:
http://www.brycchancarey.com/index.htm
10. CHANGES IN GOVERNMENT IN ENGLAND
INSPIRED COLONISTS.
The Glorious Revolution led to an
English Bill of Rights.
Parliament removed King James II.
They installed William and Mary of
The Netherlands.
William and Mary agreed to a bill of
rights. (These were rights the
government promised to protect.)
Colonists expected to have the same
rights.
Right to trial by jury
No army called up without Parliament’s
consent
No tax increase without Parliament’s
consent
11. COLONIAL SOCIETY
GENTRY-wealthy
planters, merchants,
ministers, lawyers,
royal officials
MIDDLE CLASS-small
farmers, skilled craftsmen,
tradespeople
INDENTURED SERVANTS-contracted
to work a number of yrs to pay off
passage to America
12. WOMEN AND AFRICANS
Women did far more than traditional “women’s
work.” Some farmed and learned trades, especially
in the backcountry, where everyone in the family
pitched in.
Africans brought many of their methods for farming
and parts of their native language with them (Gullah
is an example of this hybrid language in the
Carolinas.*) Some slaves learned new skills and
included African styles in their designs.
*R. H. Brown is from that area, speaks
the language, and has written a book
about it.
13. GREAT AWAKENING
A religious movement with emotion-packed
preaching by ministers such as Jonathan Edwards
and George Whitefield
Many new churches split off from old ones
More tolerance for different beliefs
Result: The ability to shed old systems of
religion to think and believe independently
helped colonists to gain a sense of more
democratic feelings
14. EDUCATION IN THE COLONIES
New England-1st public schools in MA
Middle Colonies-private schools
Southern Colonies- Tutors
Apprenticeships for pre-teen and teen boys to learn
trades from the masters in their fields
Dame schools for New England girls to learn
etiquette and homemaking skills.
15. ENLIGHTENMENT
Apply reason and scientific methods to the study of
society.
Ben Franklin was a good example of enlightenment
spirit, because he wanted to use reasoning with his
inventions and public service to make the world a
better place.
17. TRIAL OF JOHN PETER ZENGER
Criticized NY Governor
in his newspaper
Accused of libel
Found not guilty
Led to freedom of
press as an accepted
right
